Thursday, January 22, 2015

week 3 ,observing Vaping on a deeper level.

The other day I observed myself vaping. Using a vaporizer to turn nicotine and vegetable oils with flavorings into flavored and scented "smoke" that dissipates shortly after being exhaled. The process was fascinating to me so I began to look into the differences in the process of smoking nicotine from a cigarette and from a vape, or E-Cig. Although the resulting exhalation appears similar in form to smoke, it is not and it evaporates so quickly, much more quickly than normal smoke without the burning smell. I looked into the history of vaping and discovered that the original idea of using water vapor was thought up in 2003 by a Chinese pharmacist, as an alternative to smoking cigarettes. It didn't reach America in 2006. The idea of vaping is that no tobacco is actually burned, it is a vaporization of oils including vegetable glycerin or polythelene glycol. The thing that makes vaping different is that nothing is actually burned. The oils and flavors are brought down to an atomic level and vaporized, leaving the user to be able to exhale water vapor. hence creating the illusion of "smoke" and helping conquer the mental aspect of smoking. As a former smoker, seeing the chemistry and science behind this seemingly insignificant piece of technology is truly astounding. I actually later found that the first e-cig prototype was patented in 1963! It was never commercially produced and my vape today is actually laden with LED displays. What a wacky turn of events!

2 comments:

Fascinating information. And a great infographic! I never smoked cigarettes, but I did smoke a pipe for a few years, until my son was born. I can't imagine smoking something that smells like watermelon, but, on the other hand, my custom blend pipe tobacco was a smoked cavendish with a touch of coconut. Many things we see and hear (and smell) can trigger memories which we can use to guide our creativity.

Nice little history here! I vape as well and I always found it amazing how the whole thing worked. I am aware that inhaling water vapor and such probably isn't the exactly "healthy" but I know for a fact it's better than inhaling the chemicals, poison, and smoke from ciggarettes. Also, I know for a fact that I feel ten times better, physically, than ever while I was smoking ciggarettes.